What is Carbon Accounting?

Carbon accounting, also known as greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, is the process used by organizations to measure the amounts of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) emitted directly and indirectly by their activities. 

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Why is Carbon Accounting important?

Carbon accounting is an essential component of environmental management and sustainability reporting, providing a quantitative basis for understanding the impact of an entity on global warming and informing strategies to reduce or offset these emissions. This also assists organizations in complying with national and international climate regulations as more reporting requirements begin to include greenhouse gas emissions.

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How does Carbon Accounting work?

Carbon accounting typically involves the following steps:

1. Establishing organizational and reporting boundaries
2. Categorizing emissions activities based on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
3. Gathering data which might include fuel usage, electricity consumption, travel details, supply chain activities, and any other processes that result in GHG emissions.
4. Calculating emissions data by multiplying activity data by their respective emissions factor
5. Documenting and reporting the findings in sustainability reports, regulatory filings, or to GHG registries.
6. Applying for third-party audits and verification for credibility and accuracy.

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Need help with other sustainability questions? 

Keslio is an international sustainability advisory that helps companies and investors navigate their sustainability journey. We support our clients through various services, such as strategy development and implementation, reporting and communications, and greenhouse gas emissions calculations.

We’re passionate about supporting business leaders and their companies with sustainability and ESG and we’d love to help you. To talk to us and find out what Keslio can do for you, please use the section below to contact us, or email us at hello@keslio.com.